Titanic Tales of Time Travel
by Kalidoris
Summary: Faced with the destruction of the world, a grizzled Eren Jaeger does the impossible (again) and forces his soul through time and space into the body of his fifteen year old self, with a simple mission: Change the course of time, forever.
1. Harem of the Damned

Light blasted through his eyes, searing its way past retinas and corneas, snaking its way through those unfortunately place gaps in his skull and piercing a ruthless

shaft of a blade into the soft and unprotected brain matter so cherished by living beings.

Or at least, that's what it felt like. Having had an uncomfortable moment to adjust to the sunlit conditions, Eren surveyed his surroundings with two parts nostalgia and one part bittersweet amusement.

It was high noon or early afternoon, judging by the (truly overdone) amounts of sunlight blasting down from on high, and if it wasn't for that glorious breeze gently ruffling clothing, it would be insufferably hot.

Where was he? Technically, he was nowhere.

However, that (for obvious reasons) wasn't quite true.

Nestled in the foothills of one of the largest mountains remaining in human territory was a small military camp fashioned for the purposes of turning soft, spoiled city kids and hardworking farmers whose skulls are almost as thick as the cows they spend all day raising into calculating titan-killing machines of precise destruction.

Currently he was standing in a line of twenty, one arm clapped firmly on his breast, the other rigidly against his lower back in full salute. An instructor was roaming the ranks, verbally abusing any and all recruits sporting looks beyond grim determination.

So far we've identified the who and the where, but unfortunately the next two are much more difficult to grasp without a lengthy and frankly, quite boring, lecture on the mechanics of time and all those who tamper with it.

To put it into more simple terms: He was not who he should be, nor was he when he should be, but he was still him.

Or, in laymen's terms: Eren Jaeger, last remaining survivor of the titan apocalypse and traitor to the human race had conquered that mysterious fifth dimension, time.

Forcing an unstoppable current of sands back with a combination of brute willpower and his deceased father's alchemical brilliance, he had successfully arrived when he wanted if not exactly _where_ he wanted (he had been aiming for the royal palace after all).

Oh well, it couldn't be helped.

He'd just have to do it the roundabout way, and 'it' of course being a little chat with our dear friend the monarch himself.

And by 'little chat' we mean 'the assassination and replacement of'.

Perhaps this method would actually be a better course of action, as it would avoid the whole problem of forcing people to follow and obey his rule. Or perhaps it would be even better t-

"**I'M TALKING TO YOU!" **came exploding across his ears, startling him out of his scheming.

He realized with a start he had been so busy reflecting on his actions in a strange and inexplicably expository fashion that he had completely tuned out the instructor, named Keith Shardis, who had spied the smile creeping across his lips without explicit permission and as a result had stopped in Eren's neck of the woods to shout it off.

Off balance, he stumbled over his words but nonetheless managed to force out a

"Sorry Sir! It won't happen again, Sir!"

"IT BETTER NOT YOU SHRIMP-DICKED FUCKNUGGET, WE'RE HERE TO KILL TITANS _NOT_ TO DAYDREAM ABOUT MOMMY! NOW ABOUT FACE BEFORE THE SIGHT OF YOUR UGLY MUG MAKES ME VOMIT." bellowed Shardis.

Snapping into a pivot, Eren wheeled around until he was awkwardly facing the person directly behind him.

Satisfied, Shardis moved on to harass other baby faced recruits, leaving Eren determinedly locking eyes with the one and only- Annie Leonhardt, or, as far as the titans were concerned, 'that one big fat failure who spoiled the whole thing for everyone everywhere'.

However, most humans settled on "traitor" or "titan-bitch".

Eren bemusedly wondered how it felt to love both sides and in return be hated by both.

Although, he supposed that was getting a bit ahead of the situation, as she hadn't technically done anything yet so she was still in the favor of both sides.

Loved by all sides, hated by none.

His unwavering examination of her had not gone unnoticed, and she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

Realizing he looked a mite bit conspicuous, he shifted his gaze away, sweeping across the rest of the recruits he could see.

A sudden wave of sadness smacked him upside the head as he made awkward eye contact with people he knew to be dead- people he'd seen die, people whose pulses he'd felt stop as they gasped out last breaths while cradled in his arms.

Pain wracked his chest and for the first time since he'd arrived, the gravity of just how important his task was settled in.

The euphoria of success at traversing the laws of physics and traipsing across time washed away to reveal the stark bone-white fury and black depression of reality.

He had narrowly escaped what could be considered 'ultimate failure' aka the destruction of all things human by what really is cheating, and starting all over again.

This time he must not fail, because the odds of him being able to cheat his way out of the icy clutches of death again are very unlikely- this time its game over if he fails.


	2. Jaeger-bombastic

A week had passed after the rites of initiation to the Cadets, and Eren was feeling the strain.

Not from the physical exertion, like many of the other hopefuls- he'd experienced far, far worse of course.

No, what was straining Eren Jaeger was the struggle every spy and every method actor goes through- maintaining the charade of being someone else.

Age had most definitely changed him, and when you spend every moment of every day surrounded by other people all of which were constantly observing you, an overnight change like that is incredibly difficult to conceal.

Especially because most fifteen year olds don't wake up in the middle of the night sweating in a terrified panic, literally shaking with fear and moments from screaming.

Eren's changes are noticed most by his closest friends. Armin chooses to say nothing, chalking it up to stress. Mikasa, however cannot let something like that slip, and corners Eren walking back to his dorm after a meal.

She noticed, and she would not rest until she knew what was wrong with her only remaining family member.

For a moment, he considers telling her.

For a moment, he thinks about what will happen if he confessed, if she would only believe him.

Unfortunately, he knows the world better than that.

And in that moment, with Mikasa desperately searching his eyes for a clue, for some sort reason for his suspicious actions and strange behavior, the realization hits him: It will never be the same.

Even with his mind-bending talent to rewind the universal clock, he was different, and things would never be the same as they were when he was, in fact, fifteen.

He smiles sadly, and reaches out. Gently cupping her cheek with his hand, he whispers to her "Please, just trust me. Trust me in this, Mikasa. Please."

She doesn't understand, but with such a heartfelt request she refuses to argue, even if her heart is dissatisfied .

He leaves her there, and stalks back to the barracks, where he sleeps heavily without a word to any of the others.

* * *

Eventually they finished the most basic part of basic- the conditioning.

Literal days of running, hours of weightlifting and all terrain conditioning melted into omni-directional gear training, basic weapon handling, and informational sessions on military life and duties as well as Titan physiology and ecology.

Eren had come to a decision that he would perform as absolutely perfect as he was capable of, putting him considerable far ahead of the rest of the group.

Excelling in every category he held a borderline legendary status among the rest of the Cadets, and even held sway with some of the instructors.

He managed to wriggle his way out of every conversation about his talents, and always had a distraction ready for those armed with questions.

Things progressed relatively normally, until they began the hand-to-hand combat lessons.

Shardis ordered the Cadets to pair up to practice the knife combat routine they had spent the early morning learning about (after a healthy run, of

course). Eren interjected with a request: "Sir! Permission to spar against three opponents, Sir!" Shardis was floored. In the history of the academy, he could not think of one time that someone had demanded to fight against more than one person at a time.

It was unheard of.

Blinking, Shardis inquired in a low tone, "Which three opponents?". Unable to hide a slight smirk, Eren responded "Annie Leonhardt, Reiner Braun, and Bertholdt Hoover!"

There was a moment of stunned silence as those three shared an alarmed glance. Shardis's brow wrinkled slightly "Why those three, Recruit?"

"Because Sir, they complement each other, sir!" Eren replied immediately. Shardis glanced around, seeing the blank faces of the Cadets waiting for his

orders.

"Very well, recruit." Shardis begrudgingly grunted, before stalking off to organize the rest of the Cadets.

There was a moment of silence as the recruits faced off before the din of shouts, grunts, and meaty thuds filled the air.

Eren surveyed the trio with a smirk. Bertholdt was nervously glancing around, incredibly anxious. Reiner seemed uncharacteristically serious, with a furrowed brow and fighting stance. Annie was all fangs, with a murderous glare.

Eren couldn't help but jab at them "Well now friends, let's not make Shardis angry by slacking off!" he sneered.

Annie snarled, but Reiner spoke up first "Why us?" his deep voice cut across Annie's. Eren's sneer widened into a wolfish grin barely masking his contempt "Because I wanted to prove a point" he growled.

"And what point is that?" Annie snapped out frostily. Eren's face contorted into a hideous mask of violent glee, anticipating the fight soon to blood lust was rising, his titan blood ached for a long awaited release.

Not yet. Not here. Not now. For now his fists would suffice.

"I want to prove that you aren't half as untouchable as you think you are." Eren snarled "So now, let's fight. Come at me with your combined strength!"

And they did.

Reiner's fists were like stones, swinging with unmatched force.

Annie's kicks were lightning fast, her jabs two times faster, her body was a blur of movement.

Bertholdt was like a medium between the two, not quite as strong as Reiner nor as fast as Annie, but he made up for it with intelligence, his strikes were perfectly timed with impeccable placement.

Eren devoured the three of them in a fury of blows, using every part of his body as a weapon to inflict damage, ducking and dodging, weaving around blows and in other places absorbing them like they were nothing.

In moments he had disarmed and flipped Annie, hurling her into Bertholdt, who hesitated and stumbled to catch her. In a series of rapid-fire blows Eren smashed through Reiners guard, matching brute force for brute force, he wrested the fake blade from Reiner before turning on Bertholdt who jerkily attacked him with the last wooden knife.

Eren gave two steps of ground to recover and raise his guard before spinning into a brutal roundhouse kick directly to Bertholdt's skull, knocking the tall boy off balance and sending him teetering to the ground.

All three knives successfully removed from the clutches of their owners, there was a shocked moment of silence.

Eren's blood, human and otherwise, sings through his veins howling in pleasure at the carnage and demanding more more MORE.

Truth to be told, he had been long awaiting this moment, his hatred for the titan shifters reaching a boiling point simply from thinking of the chaos they caused.

That whole damn town was responsible for so much carnage, and damn if it didn't feel good to hand some back to them.

Straightening up he scooped a single knife off the ground where it had fallen.

"Now it's your turn to disarm me" Eren called out to the other three, who were nursing bruises from the unexpected ferocity of Eren's previous assault.


End file.
